- Joined
- Nov 28, 1999
- Messages
- 235
i think i am probably the deliverer of information that most "FMA" people hate to hear. i dont like seminars, i dont believe people who want to be teachers should take them for certificates. i dont like the fancy "drills" that every body swears is so traditional to the philippine style fighter. and i believe in proving your technique works, which people like to say " come to my seminar" or "buy my tape" and you will see that my stuff works.
in my opinion the philippine martial artist of the western world has become a coward who likes to talk tough and act tough. we have become scientist who hide behind fancy explanations and talk about "reality based" "close quarters" "military LEO" etc. these things sound tough, so people will assume that if you been in the military, or a cop, or you teach a lot of seminars and sell alot of videos, you are the real deal. "2,000 practioners across two continents can't be wrong about" is what one guy told to me.
the filipino fighter has always been a "show me" kind of person who doubt everything you do, because he thinks he can beat you. this is the source of true self confidence. the western FMA fighter is gullbal and is to easy to convince that "this is deadly ****!". most of my out of town students make the decision to study with me totally from email and looking at my website before they even meet with me. now i like this because it is good for business, but they will tell you, that i lecture them dont be so easy to convince. today the FMA artist is afraid to test himself, and its to easy to say "i fight only to the death" or "this art is for life and death combat, not sport". this the talk of cowards. you have to have a way to test yourself as close to the real thing.
now the philippines does not have a lot of history in books like many other countries, but is seems that now people feel they are free to write a history of their own, that we never had. now we have at least 3 arnisador who say his style is the style that lapu lapu used to kill magellan. kali is an art that any person from mindanao should know about. and kinamutai and dumug make a filipino style FILIPINO.
now my point. there is one way to prove your art works. and this is not in showing drills, or demonstrating cuts on a guy who moves slow motion (or a planned attack) in kenpo style. and if your feelings get hurt to easy, you will never be a fighter, because this is the behavior of women and children. if someone questions your style, this is not the occasion to get upset, but it should make you smile, and give you the opportunity to show off. when you speak about filipino tradition, this is one of them, the match, which is a dead tradition in this country.
there is a saying, the quickest way to kill your opponent with a knife comes in one move, a stab or a slash. when you make many fancy ways to do it, you have to finish it with a slash or a stab. now you tell me what is the most practical way to kill somebody other than that.
all philippine martial art styles will help the beginner. well, all martial art styles will help. they all have techniques you can use to cripple or knock out an attacker, and can help save your life. if you dont believe me, show me a technique you think is not practical, and i can use it to beat you up. the difference is, who has the fastest way to hurt an opponent, and who has more efficient way to do it. even a style people want to laugh at, like wu shu, will have techniques that are useful to the non-martial artist. but any style in the hands of a man with no confidence, or fake confidence, and he is too scared to use it, will be no use to him. just like a guy who is tough, and aggressive and has some tolerance to pain can use tae kwon do and whip you up.
so what is important to a style, especially when you want to stick to the philippine philosophy of combat, is these things:
- the quickest and efficient ways to stop your opponent
- the most damaging techniques to the most vulnerble weakness on the opponent
- a training plan that will give your student the speed power and durability to beat any opponent
- a study of fighting methods he might see on the street
- enough opponents to fight with so he will know what works for him and what doesnt'
- some kind of plan to make cowards tough, and tough guys more calm
- enough experience fighting that he will have no fear going into the fight
to many teacher put to mush importance to knowing all these variation and ways to do one thing. they have so many names, and things to memorize, the student never develops his reflexes that he can act with no thought. and students spent too much time looking at things like coordination and improvising and confusing that with fighting ability. if you stick to just what mattered, "can you stop me or can i stop you" (greg alland), you will probably loose all those non-practical things in your style.
and stop getting your feelings hurt so fast.
in my opinion the philippine martial artist of the western world has become a coward who likes to talk tough and act tough. we have become scientist who hide behind fancy explanations and talk about "reality based" "close quarters" "military LEO" etc. these things sound tough, so people will assume that if you been in the military, or a cop, or you teach a lot of seminars and sell alot of videos, you are the real deal. "2,000 practioners across two continents can't be wrong about" is what one guy told to me.
the filipino fighter has always been a "show me" kind of person who doubt everything you do, because he thinks he can beat you. this is the source of true self confidence. the western FMA fighter is gullbal and is to easy to convince that "this is deadly ****!". most of my out of town students make the decision to study with me totally from email and looking at my website before they even meet with me. now i like this because it is good for business, but they will tell you, that i lecture them dont be so easy to convince. today the FMA artist is afraid to test himself, and its to easy to say "i fight only to the death" or "this art is for life and death combat, not sport". this the talk of cowards. you have to have a way to test yourself as close to the real thing.
now the philippines does not have a lot of history in books like many other countries, but is seems that now people feel they are free to write a history of their own, that we never had. now we have at least 3 arnisador who say his style is the style that lapu lapu used to kill magellan. kali is an art that any person from mindanao should know about. and kinamutai and dumug make a filipino style FILIPINO.
now my point. there is one way to prove your art works. and this is not in showing drills, or demonstrating cuts on a guy who moves slow motion (or a planned attack) in kenpo style. and if your feelings get hurt to easy, you will never be a fighter, because this is the behavior of women and children. if someone questions your style, this is not the occasion to get upset, but it should make you smile, and give you the opportunity to show off. when you speak about filipino tradition, this is one of them, the match, which is a dead tradition in this country.
there is a saying, the quickest way to kill your opponent with a knife comes in one move, a stab or a slash. when you make many fancy ways to do it, you have to finish it with a slash or a stab. now you tell me what is the most practical way to kill somebody other than that.
all philippine martial art styles will help the beginner. well, all martial art styles will help. they all have techniques you can use to cripple or knock out an attacker, and can help save your life. if you dont believe me, show me a technique you think is not practical, and i can use it to beat you up. the difference is, who has the fastest way to hurt an opponent, and who has more efficient way to do it. even a style people want to laugh at, like wu shu, will have techniques that are useful to the non-martial artist. but any style in the hands of a man with no confidence, or fake confidence, and he is too scared to use it, will be no use to him. just like a guy who is tough, and aggressive and has some tolerance to pain can use tae kwon do and whip you up.
so what is important to a style, especially when you want to stick to the philippine philosophy of combat, is these things:
- the quickest and efficient ways to stop your opponent
- the most damaging techniques to the most vulnerble weakness on the opponent
- a training plan that will give your student the speed power and durability to beat any opponent
- a study of fighting methods he might see on the street
- enough opponents to fight with so he will know what works for him and what doesnt'
- some kind of plan to make cowards tough, and tough guys more calm
- enough experience fighting that he will have no fear going into the fight
to many teacher put to mush importance to knowing all these variation and ways to do one thing. they have so many names, and things to memorize, the student never develops his reflexes that he can act with no thought. and students spent too much time looking at things like coordination and improvising and confusing that with fighting ability. if you stick to just what mattered, "can you stop me or can i stop you" (greg alland), you will probably loose all those non-practical things in your style.
and stop getting your feelings hurt so fast.
